Best face tanners for an effortless sun-kissed glow in 2024

The tan luxe gradual body cream was named the best luxurious option in our fake tan guide, so it’s no surprise to see the brand take centre stage in the face sector. Packed full of skin-boosting ingredients, including raspberry seed oil, vitamin E and aloe vera, these glow-inducing drops are not only incredibly easy to use, but they also help hydrate the skin, too. Plus, we found they were the most colour-enhancing tan drops we’ve tried.

Simply mixing three to five drops into your evening moisturiser will give you enough of a glow to notice a difference when you wake up in the morning and there’s no sticky or tacky feeling or strange smell in sight.

As explained by Emily, anyone with dry skin would do well with a lotion, and Dove is here with a true bargain buy. Coming as a white cream, this slightly shimmering formula will seal in that much-needed moisture thanks to its cell moisturising ingredients that hit the face with a good deal of hydration. Apply as you would your usual moisturiser, and slowly but surely, you’ll start to develop a faux glow.

Our tester found it a little heavy on their combination skin, but anyone on the dry side is sure to welcome the heavier formula. Just be sure to use it every day to keep the tan looking in tip-top shape. And as it’s so subtle in shade, it also makes a great pick for beginners.

Of course, many of us pay incredibly close attention to what we put on our faces, scrutinising ingredient lists to work out exactly what’s soaking into our skin, so why shouldn’t we do the same with fake tan?

Made with only certified organic ingredients, Three Warriors aims to create a “healthier” alternative to traditional tan. Rose oil, aloe vera and olive oil stand out as the key ingredients working to hydrate the skin while flooding the face with nutrients. Plus, the buildable shade looks incredibly natural. It’s also housed in a spray bottle which is incredibly easy to apply and can then be blended out with a brush to a seamless results, although do take note that this may not be the best product for you if you aren’t a fan of directly spritzing products straight onto your face.

We’ve raved about these face tanning drops before, and our opinion hasn’t changed. Incredibly easy to use, just add a few drops to your night cream, and you’ll be greeted with a natural-looking golden glow come morning. The number of drops you add tailors the tan to how deep you want it – two will give you a faint everyday glow, while six will leave you with a truly sunkissed finish – meaning it works as a great base year-round.

Glycerin, shea butter, and vitamin E feature as the key ingredients, which is perfect for those with dry skin, although anyone on the oily side may find it gets a little greasy. Now available in a larger size than the OG version, there’s even more bang for your buck, so one bottle should last a good few months, although it will start to go a slightly strange orange colour if the lid isn’t put on properly.

For fairer-skinned folks with red or pink undertones, this tan is for you. Slightly green in colour, it neutralises any redness to give an even, natural-looking golden glow which our tester just loved. Lightweight with a water-like texture, a little goes a long way, so even one drop will leave a slightly sunkissed finish. For very fair skin, a light shade (£13.37, Lookfantastic.com) is also available, which counteracts blue base tones to achieve the same sun-flushed effect – genius, really.

Coconut, chia seed and avocado oil are just a handful of skin-loving ingredients included, meaning it does much more than just colour – think deep hydration, reduced inflammation and increased collagen. Our only issue is that it colours every part of the face, moustache included, so if facial hair is more foe than friend, you may want to do away with it before each application.

While a number of tans can be tailored in shade by the amount you apply, for a really natural-looking hue on dark skin tones, you may find a designated dark tan is more accurat. Suitable for both the face and body, this tiny bottle is the perfect pick-me-up when added to your moisturiser. Fuss-free and flawless every time, it really couldn’t be easier. Glycerin hydrates while lilly pilly firms and brightens, and davidsons plum exfoliates to always achieve an even skin tone. There’s no guide colour so you can use it morning or night and gradually watch your skin get a sunkissed glow minus the need for any damaging UV rays, hurrah!

Unlike the majority of these big-name beauty brands, Lucy Bee is a small UK-based beauty label showing you can still support small when it comes to self-tan. Made in the UK from 95 per cent natural ingredients, it’s been created with sensitive skin in mind. Coconut water hydrates, while aloe vera softens and orange and rose flower water soothes, making a skin-loving formula that’s gentle yet still gives a deep golden glow.

Although the brand states that it develops in two hours, we found it took a little longer than that at around the four to six-hour mark, which wasn’t an issue when a natural sunkissed shade was a result. Simply mix a few drops into your moisturiser or apply alone and sit back, relax and wait for your tan to arrive.

If low and slow is your best approach to self-tan, then you’ll want to set your sights on this Bondi Sands option. Just as you’d use a gradual fake tan for your body, this product is the same but tailored towards your face, meaning no waking up with a seriously different skin shade to the one you went to sleep with. In a pump bottle, it’s straightforward to use and can slot in place of your everyday moisturiser. Our tester loved how lightweight the lotion was, how quickly it absorbed into the skin and the long-lasting hit of hydration from the shea butter, cocoa seed butter and aloe vera leaf juice.

Anyone with oily skin will want to steer well clear of thick lotions and overloaded oils, so will welcome Watermans with open arms. As Emily suggested, the lightweight consistency of a spray combined with aloe vera leaf will leave your face hydrated with a healthy-looking glow, and we’re yet to find a tan with a finer spritz than this pick. Castor oil is included, so it isn’t fully oil-free, but it does work as an anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant, giving it a great case to stay. Made in the UK by a smaller batch brand than many of these big hitters, it’s also a great chance to shop small.

For an incredibly quick and easy application, face mists are the way forward. While they don’t give as deep tanning results as the serums or creams (in our experience), they are a great lightweight layer for anyone steering clear of heavy-set lotions. For acne-prone-prone skin, they are pretty perfect, and Skinny Tan sticks out as the best.

With coconut water being one of the main ingredients, the water-like consistency instantly absorbs into the face with no sticky or greasy feeling, and it has a dreamy holiday-like scent to match. Vitamin C brightens the skin, hyaluronic acid hydrates, aloe vera soothes irritation and guarana seed promotes circulation, so there’s a whole lot going on in one simple spritz.

When it comes to tanning, few brands are as famous as St Tropez, and the products really do live up to the hype. Packed with a cocktail of skin-boosting ingredients – niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, echinacea and vitamins C and E – it hydrates, brightens and reduces the appearance of fine lines. So really, what more could we ask for?

Available in only one shade, the number of drops you apply will tailor your tan to your skin tone. For fair skin, try two, for olive skin, try four and for darker skin, try six or apply alone without a moisturiser, and you should have a natural-looking result in no time. Our favourite thing about this tan compared to any other – and why we’ve dubbed it as best for those with olive skin – is how golden it is in colour, giving a luminous look from within.

Tan drops are by in large the most popular choice for the face, but, if you aren’t too sold on the slow, subtly building concept then there are other solutions such as this Loving Tan lotion.

While it definitely seems a little daunting at first in an incredibly dark foundation-like colour, a little goes a long way. Once smoothed into clean skin with either a brush or the fingers (just be sure to wash them well afterwards) we found it gently dispersed into a very soft, natural-looking tint. Just be sure to pull the product down the neck and right into the ears and hairline without any clumpy build-up, lest you be left with a fair-skinned halo or too dark face framing. The guide colour you’ll see is similar to the final shade as it doesn’t develop too deeply at all and we did love that you could see exactly where you had added it. Although, the smell was definitely not the nicest of options we’ve tried.

Also included in our best face sunscreen guide, this Tan-Luxe pick is a multi-use wonder. Housing SPF30, hyaluronic acid and a tanning agent, it protects the face from the sun’s rays while building a golden glow from within. Nice and light, it instantly absorbs into the skin with no sticky or greasy residue, prepping the skin for make-up or moisturiser while distributing a gorgeous scent. While the tan is certainly not the strongest, it does away with any Edward Cullen-like gleam, giving the subtlest of shades that can be built up each day. Seven superfoods have been included, such as cocoa seed butter, avocado oil and raspberry seed oil, to deliver a hit of hydration and a healthy helping of nutrients.

We’ve raved about the easy applications of tanning mists above, so we won’t bore you yet again about their super quick application, instant absorption and often hydrating benefits. Featuring coconut fruit extract, hyaluronic acid, watermelon seed oil and glycerin, this Coco & Eve find reads like a cocktail and smells like one too.

Instantly hydrating, it soaks into the skin, plumping up the skin and flooding it with antioxidants. The more you apply, the deeper a tan you will achieve, but we found a simple spritz every evening gave the natural golden glow we were after, and the colour can start to develop after just a couple of hours. When storing, just be sure to keep the lid on, or you too may face the heartbreak of the spritzing nozzle falling off, never to be seen again, rendering the product unusable.